1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fifth wheel trailer hitches and more particularly to devices used to aid in the installation of and removal of a fifth wheel trailer hitch from a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recreational vehicles (RV) serve as primary or secondary homes to many retirees. Fifth wheel RV trailers are a particularly popular type of recreational vehicle among retirees because they may travel long distances towing their home. For any trailer user, fifth wheel trailers are also a very popular subset of RV trailers because these models provide extra living space at the same time as allowing preferred maneuverability during transit. Fifth wheel trailers provide a safer mode of towing. Once the RV user arrives at his location, he may stay for an extended period of time and need to have every-day use of the truck he utilized for towing, but now, as a regular mode of transportation.
In order to properly use a fifth wheel trailer, one must install a specific trailer hitch to the user's vehicle. Typically, the fifth wheel hitch is bolted to the interior of a truck bed. The hitch in the truck bed is used to receive the king pin attached to the goose neck pin box extension affixed to the front of the fifth wheel trailer. Fifth wheel trailer hitches are known to be quite heavy and difficult to install and remove from the truck bed. The installation and removal of these hitches can be very difficult. Yet, repeated removal and installation is necessary in order to make full use of the truck whenever the fifth wheel trailer is parked at a campsite or in between travel trips. With the aid of many individuals, removing the hitch from the truck bed is possible. However, aid is not always available.
Prior inventions have sought to install a hitch removal aid in locations such as in garages or other set locations. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,549 B2 to Maturino. These devices do not serve the need to have the hitch removed while at a campsite or otherwise away from home. Other options require recreationists to carry around a derrick or boom assembly in the back of the truck towing the fifth wheel trailer. These items are heavy in their own right and they also take up precious storage room in the back of the truck. A recent patent to Cote sought to address the need for portability in a hitch removal device, however Cote purports to use nothing more than the overlap between the king pin of the fifth wheel trailer and the plate of Cote's hitch removal device to safely hoist the trailer hitch out of or off of the truck so that the truck may drive away, leaving the hitch suspended in mid-air with only a “frictional communication with the king pin” holding the forked plate end of the device in a “sandwiched” position while the weight of the truck bed hitch dangles at the end of the hoist, 6-8 feet in the air. (See U.S. Pat. No. 8,720,864 B2 to Cote). Cote's hitch removal device is insufficient to address the need in the industry that the hitch removal device be safe to operate while also easy to use. Cote teaches away from the present invention as it seeks to have the entire device be removable from the fifth wheel goose neck hitch yet calls for the use of a electric motor which would be too heavy for the average trailer user to remove and store after each use. Inventions such as those indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,864 to Amato or US 2004/0256607A1 to Spitsbergen are secured to the hitch receiver of a vehicle and would be unable to be used with fifth wheel trailers as they would necessarily project under the goose neck of the trailer pin box. Other conventional trailer hitch inventions have sought to permanently, or semi-permanently secure various devices to the hitch of a trailer, such as the hitching alignment aids shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,408 to Norton et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,345 B2 to Wilks, but those inventions have only been used on trailers which were not gooseneck trailers and have no motivation or ability to lift a fifth wheel hitch from a truck. Therefore, fifth wheel enthusiasts need a reliable, portable, light-weight and safe fifth wheel hitch lift and removal device which can be used by a single, often elderly individual.